Thailand Bets on 5G Smart Factories for Future Growth - CDOTrends

Thailand has built a beardown manufacturing manufacture by accessing low-cost materials and labour successful caller decades. But it is done exertion that the state hopes to support and proceed its comparative advantage.

Electronics and the car manufacture person been keys to the maturation of Thai manufacturing. Motorcycle enthusiasts cognize that the iconic English marque Triumph has been gathering bikes astatine Thai factories for immoderate time. And this inclination is lone going to proceed nether a caller planetary restructuring program successful favour of moving much accumulation retired of Britain.

As Thailand embraces the adjacent signifier of its maturation arsenic a manufacturing center, it won’t beryllium conscionable the accepted arbitrages connected the outgo which thrust success. The state is investing importantly successful next-generation astute mill exertion enabled by precocious robotics, the net of things, automation, and critically done backstage 5G networks.

The translation won’t hap overnight and volition instrumentality important investment. Thailand’s Digital Economy and Society Ministry has unveiled a 5G exertion confederation that aims to alteration 5G showcases into existent usage cases with a people of 10 rollouts by the extremity of 2022. 

There are presently 20 improvement projects nether the confederation created successful April of this year, portion of Thailand’s 4.0 strategy, which aims to marque the federation the ASEAN Digital Hub. 

Transform and revitalize

Recognizing what it required, Thai telco DTAC launched 3 5G IoT solutions successful the second portion of this twelvemonth to alteration and revitalize the Thai industry.

The archetypal of these was astute mill solutions, on with astute logistics and astute utilities, each underpinned with 5G Private Networks with borderline computing which tin alteration large-scale IoT, AI, ML, augmented and virtual reality, and real-time information processing.

Advanced Info Service, a starring Thai integer work provider, besides wants to beryllium a subordinate successful astute factories and has teamed up with China’s ZTE to physique a high-level 5G web successful Thailand. 

Along with Suranaree University, the 2 partners combined to proceedings a 5G Smart Factory aviator and marque their resources disposable to Thai companies wanting to research astute mill implementations.

“Already that tract is delivering a 40% summation successful on-time transportation for customers, vigor savings of 21%, and 44% little downtime”

Suranaree University is located successful Nakhon Ratchasima, an intersection betwixt Thailand’s Eastern and Northeastern Economic Corridors, and the state hosts 3 large concern estates. The assemblage already offers courses and probe collaborations successful AI and IoT and volition present supply businesses entree to 5G capabilities arsenic they alteration their factories. 

Another starring Chinese telco, Huawei, has signed an MoU with robotics company Siasun Robotics. The statement volition spot it supply the archetypal commercialized 5G mill solution successful Thailand, processing concern bundle platforms that tin beryllium rolled retired astatine standard connected the Huawei unreality with 5G connectivity.

The partners purpose to make a 5G astute mill halfway of excellence successful Thailand, offering services crossed manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, mining, and lipid and gas. 

In October, Taiwanese telecoms relation Chunghwa Telcom deployed a backstage 5G web for Thai electronics manufacturer Delta electronics, successful collaboration with state-owned telco National Telecom, successful Delta’s mill astatine Samutprakarn connected the Gulf of Thailand. 

Delta provides components to Apple and Tesla, among different customers, and has astir 200 facilities worldwide, galore of which volition yet usage the operational template implemented astatine the factory.  

Augmented world solutions

Elsewhere successful the world, the advantages of 5G-enabled astute factories are becoming much evident.

Schneider Electric is a planetary person successful this country and began a astute mill task astatine its Square D subsidiary successful Kentucky, USA, which manufactures physics components.

Schneider claims the task has eliminated paperwork by 90% and reduced repair times by 20%. 

An augmented world strategy delivers unrecorded operational information connected immoderate instrumentality successful the mill by scanning a QR code, informing connected however adjacent a centrifugal is to burning out, a seal to blowing, oregon a bearing to failing.

Schneider has a programme to alteration 100 discrete manufacturing sites astir the world, 1 of which is its AVEVA works successful Batam, Indonesia.

Already that tract is delivering a 40% summation successful on-time transportation for customers, vigor savings of 21%, and 44% little downtime.

The results amusement that portion Thailand’s ambition is big, the planetary contention is significant, but the benefits of astute factories are real. 

Lachlan Colquhoun is the Australia and New Zealand analogous for CDOTrends and the NextGenConnectivity editor. He remains fascinated with how businesses reinvent themselves done integer technology to solve existing issues and change their full concern models. You tin scope him at [email protected]m.

Image credit: iStockphoto/Traitov